


What They Do in the Shadows

by SilverWolf626



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, College, F/F, Vampires, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26464324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWolf626/pseuds/SilverWolf626
Summary: With the promise of free pizza and a possibility of fitting in and finding a sense of belonging, Korra gains a lot more than she signed up for when she joined Zaofu State University's Paranormal Investigation Club.
Relationships: Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra/Kuvira (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	What They Do in the Shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@Korvirah](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40Korvirah).



> Hi there! I'm @Silver_Wolf365 on Twitter. This fic is the beginning of an AU that is based off of an idea that @korvirah had on Twitter! I'm in the process of homework and two jobs, but I'm so happy that I was able to find the time to get this first chapter out. I hope you all enjoy. 
> 
> I may make some changes! I just wanted to get this out there.

Autumn was nearly every university student’s favorite season. It was the one time on campus in which no one bugged one another for wearing costumes or carving pumpkins, or even obsessing over the flavor: pumpkin spice. For the quieter students, they enjoyed the changing colors of the trees and the gentle falling of the leaves. Despite the cold, people would get together in the central university park to study and hang out. It was a season for scarves and jackets, striped sweaters and warm drinks. Others found it necessary to party day in and day out, hyped on sugar and good company.

For Korra, autumn was the perfect time to focus on anything but her schoolwork. She had always had a tendency to fall behind in classwork, and that transferred into a lack of motivation to do anything that required her attention on something she wasn’t interested in. The basic university classes were required, and Korra hadn’t even thought of a degree in which she desired to pursue. If she had her choice, she would just return home to Republic City. 

Zaofu State University, ZSU, was a college that sat nestled on the edge of Zaofu city. It was high up on the hill, surrounded by beautiful forests and neighborhoods built for scholars and students who could afford to live in them. While the campus brought in a sense of warmth and invitation, it was only about a mile from the Beifong Estate.

The Beifongs were the benefactors of ZSU. They brought it up from its roots, and fostered it into a marvelous and successful institution. Some of the living family members took up roles as professors in order to keep the legacy of ZSU in check, and others simply cheered the rest of the family on. The Beifongs had been around for centuries, according to basic city history. Their influence spread all across the continent. More often than not, you would know at least one person of Beifong descent if you lived in or around Zaofu. 

Nonetheless, they did not flaunt their wealth. They strove to make the community the very best it could be. They were not rulers. They did not want power. They wanted to see the world around them thrive. 

The estate in itself, however, was huge. It was built off of land owned by previous, now deceased, members of the Beifong clan. From the main house, paths branched off through the forest towards older buildings. While many of the buildings would have been rubble, the community, just as the Beifongs fought hard to make it thrive, did its best to preserve the historical landmarks. The Beifongs held classes at these locations occasionally, and allowed students to travel through the estate to the impressive library, or glorious courtyard. It was an open bit of land. All of it was accessible, aside from the private home in which the living members resided, and the manor at the very back of the estate.

The manor was off limits. Even the land around the building stood as a barrier to deter curious parties away. Surrounded by a dense garden that held an untouched hedge maze, the old structure stood silent. Despite the age of the manor, it was a sturdy building. The architecture was worn, but firm. 

No one really knew why the manor was restricted, but rumors of all sorts flooded the city, and especially the university. Some students considered it to be the pit of hell, where the Beifongs secretly conducted rituals that brought good fortune on Zaofu at the cost of a sacrifice. Others stated it held sentimental value. Another story told of the manor as a prison for the failures and disgraces of the Beifong family. The argument stated that the family could not be so perfect; there had to be a place where the Beifongs hid their mistakes. Even some of the professors liked to tease their students, giving them a tale about the creatures of the night living within the walls of the old manor. For most students, the rumors presented humor, and good fun. No one wholeheartedly believed the stories, aside from the paranormal investigation club. 

The Paranormal Investigation Club, or PIC, was generally deemed a joke by the rest of the university. However, the majority of the members of the club were genuinely interested in the study of all that went on in the dark. The group was built up of some of the quiet folks on campus, but remained relatively small. They had a YouTube channel, which surprisingly gained thousands of subscribers, and a medium sized audience from ZSU itself. Whether those viewers were actually interested in the portrayed investigations or simply the humor and chaos that presented itself in every video, was up for debate.

Even Korra followed the PIC. She found their videos nothing but amusing. Korra enjoyed the shenanigans, often wondering what she would do or how she would react in some of the situations that the club often fell into. Perhaps Korra was truly interested in the supposed sense of belonging that she noticed connecting the PIC. She had always been a bit of a loner, on her own accord. Many people had tried to break through to her, but they were all met with the same road block. Korra preferred to stay in her dorm room, or let off steam at the gym. People knew who she was, but Korra did not know them in return. For a while, the seclusion and isolation from those around her brought her solace, but as of late, Korra felt a void in her heart. She saw, each day, the groups of students conversing and laughing, sharing stories, working on homework or even just spending time together. She thought she would never need, or desire a connection with another person. Her trust had been broken more often than not. 

She was particularly surprised with herself when she approached the club director, a second year named Jinora. The young woman was very interested in the happenings with spirits, and was a true believer of the unseen. Jinora was kind, and welcoming, but often invested so much time in her own research that she didn’t notice what was going on around her. Jinora did not notice Korra until the woman sat down across from her.

The cafeteria was busy. From students inhaling food, to others simply hanging out, each table was filled. It was loud, of course, and filled with chaos. Sometimes the commons area could turn into a rumpus room, but only on rare occasions.

“Uh, hey, Jinora.” Korra greeted the second the other woman sharply lifted her head from her text book.

Jinora looked heavily confused to see Korra of all people, but presented the woman with a small smile. “Korra, right? What can I do for you?”

Korra nearly lost her train of thought as a bout of anxiety practically slapped her in the face. Rather than regret her decision to approach Jinora, however, she forced herself out of her comfort zone, sliding into the seat across from the second year. “I was wondering what you were up to.” She swallowed. “Find any ghosts lately?”

Jinora looked towards Korra’s eyes slightly perturbed. “Spirits. They are spirits” She huffed, looking away. “The club calls them ghosts, too! So rude.” 

Korra found her attention drifting towards the other members of the club. There was Bolin and Opal, the club’s power couple, and then Bolin’s brooding brother, Mako. Each one of them carried trays full of food in their arms, but when they aimed to sit down at the table, Bolin tripped on his shoe lace and nearly threw his lunch into the air, but Opal and Mako were able to steady him before disaster struck. 

Bolin was the first of the three to acknowledge Korra. After he had regained his footing, and took a spot next to Jinora, he slammed his hands on the table. Sporting a large smile, he leaned forward, “Hey! It’s Korra!”

Opal sat on the other side of Bolin, offering a gentle wave in Korra’s direction. “Hi there, Korra.”

Korra was actually quite surprised that they knew who she was. Despite the surprise, she maneuvered her hand to the back of her head, awkwardly meddling with her pony-tail. “Hey, ah…”

Mako hadn’t seated himself just yet, rather, he leaned forward, narrowing his sharp eyebrows towards Korra. “What are you doing here? This is strictly club busine-”

“Oh, come off it, bro.” Bolin laughed. He turned towards Korra, lowering his voice, “He’s just focused for the big expedition at the end of the week! He really thinks we’re actually going to find a va-”

It was Jinora’s turn to interrupt. The young woman waved her hands in the air before finding the wherewithal to clasp her hands over Bolin’s mouth. “Ah! Nothing! Nothing… we’re-...” She paused, looking at Korra’s expression of confusion. “...We’re going out to investigate a new site, supposedly infested with vampires, or so Mako says.”

Korra could feel the amusement building in her gut. “Vampires? You know they… don’t exist, right? All of that heebie-jeebie stuff on your show can be described by science.” She shut her mouth when she realized that all members of the club were giving her a death glare. “...Erm… Right.” She took a deep breath. “I was actually w-wondering if I could come along, maybe… see what you all do?”

Jinora looked surprised, as did the others, aside from Mako, who just looked angry. After a while, the silence grew to be too much, and Korra raised her hands defensively. She spoke out, “Right. I’ll… I’m sorry for asking,” She started to stand up, thinking about how idiotic she must have looked. 

“Wait.” It was Opal. The lithe woman pushed herself from the table, circled around, and wrapped her arm around Korra’s shoulders, gently prompting her to sit back down. “This investigation is… in part, only doable because of me.” Opal began, removing her arm from Korra when she returned to a seated position. “Why don’t we let her come along? It will be fun. Besides, Korra’s quite tough, yeah? She can help us get out of a situation if one arises.”

Bolin couldn’t get rid of the dorky smile on his face. “It would be fun, and beneficial, but.. That means we’d need to split the sponsor benefits!”

Jinora swatted Bolin. “Pizza isn’t everything, you know!”

Bolin whined, “But it’s free pizza.”

“We’ve made a deal with the local pizza place.” Opal explained. “We get two free pizzas a month if we allow them to advertise during our videos. And a little bit of cash, but… we’re in college. Free food, am I right?”

If there was one thing that Korra loved, it was pizza. Any doubt in her mind about tagging along drifted away. Not only would she be able to possibly find a group to hang out with, but she would get free pizza! Two birds with one stone. 

Bolin tapped his chin. “Alright. Besides, we can’t deny someone entry to the club because we have to share the food.”

Jinora pinched the bridge of her nose, but kept a small smile on her face. “It wouldn’t hurt to educate more people about the metaphysical plane.”

Opal grinned. “I agree.” She slowly turned to look at Mako. “Well?”

Mako grumbled. “If she screws up anything, she’s out!” He snapped, jabbing his finger towards Korra. “I’ve been laughed at, called a nerd, a geek, a freak… and other things, for too long! This time I’m going to actually find a bloodsucker and then, no one will be laughing…”

His brother chuckled. “He’s really big on vampires. Thinks they’re real, an’ all.”

Mako was about to shove Bolin out of his seat when Jinora held up a hand. “Alright, alright. Well, Korra, let’s see how you like us. If you find yourself comfortable with us, we can find you a more permanent role.” She offered her hand across the surface of the table, and shook Korra’s hand. “We were actually going to brief one another on the upcoming investigation.”

Korra felt warmth in her heart. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “I’ll do my best.”

The group went on to describe what they had been planning. They would head to the location with their cameras, microphones, and other recording equipment, set up shop outside the area, and then dive into the exploration. Mako, of course, gave a long lecture on what to do if they did run into a vampire. He shared his trusty vampire hunting kit, which consisted of holy water, silver, and a few wooden stakes. He explained how to use each item, and finished off his speech with the fact that he only had one kit, and he was going to be the one using it. 

Korra let Opal inform her about how they had never actually seen a creature of the night, but they had recorded unknown voices, and what looked like shadows moving about in the dark. Korra wasn’t particularly worried. She never had a true belief that the metaphysical plane was real. She would never expose her thoughts, as she knew that would jeopardize any raport she had established with the club. 

One thing, however, that Korra noticed, was that the area that they were to investigate hadn’t been mentioned. She waited until the group calmed down before asking quietly, “So, where are we going, exactly?”

Jinora produced a devious grin, quietly answering, “The back manor of the Beifong Estate.” 

Korra blinked, and let loose a soft chuckle. “How are we going to get in there? You know that place is off-limits, and there’s a ten foot tall fence around it.”

Opal reached into her pocket, pulling something from it. “Well. We have a secret weapon.” She opened her fist, revealing an old, golden key. “Me.”


End file.
